The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: sfalexi
Date: 2008-02-22 02:29
Reason is because I have to attend an army school and i won't be allowed nor have time to play while there (it's a sun-up to sundown for two weeks straight school).
Alexi
US Army Japan Band
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Author: hans
Date: 2008-02-22 02:55
Nothing much. It might even be good for you. Maybe you could take a mouthpiece and reed and do embouchure exercises during coffee breaks.
Hans
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Author: Ed Palanker
Date: 2008-02-22 03:25
When I did that several years ago I forgot how to play the clarinet. Darn if I had to take lessons all over again.
Don't worry about it; it's like riding a bike, you never forget. My advice though is to come back slowly. Just a few minute the first day, half and hour the most the next etc. My the fourth or fifth day everything will be like it was. This is mostly to get your embouchure back in shape with out cutting into your lip. You'll be able to play the Nielsen concerto even if you couldn't play it before. ESP
peabody.jhu.edu/457
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Author: crnichols
Date: 2008-02-22 05:28
Warrior Leader Course sucks, and that's partially why.
I had to go to that course, and then give a lengthy recital of transcriptions about a month after getting back from it. I was prepared prior to my departure, but I really wasn't excited about doing that.
It took some time to get my endurance back, about a week, but it's not that bad all in all. If you like being in a regular army band, this is going to be a recurring theme throughout your career.
Good luck!
Christopher Nichols, D.M.A.
Assistant Professor of Clarinet
University of Delaware
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Author: sfalexi
Date: 2008-02-22 13:08
Thanks guys. I appreciate it. Just wondering how long it'd take to get back. It stinks, but it's gotta get done. Well, good to know that it won't be too drastic and I'll be able to get back into it about a week or so after. I'll see what I can do about getting a mouthpiece/reed just to hold and keep the embouchure up to snuff.
Alexi
US Army Japan Band
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Author: Bob Phillips
Date: 2008-02-22 15:40
Playing is an athletic activity. You'll be out of shape after your lay-off. I know several pros who will not step away from their horn for even a few days before an upcoming performance --because they'll be "off" when they pick up the horn again.
It takes me on the order of one day to recover for every day I'm off the drill.
Bob Phillips
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Author: davyd
Date: 2008-02-22 17:13
Do any of your instruments need maintenance that you've been putting off? Maybe send them to the spa while you're slogging away.
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Author: hans
Date: 2008-02-22 17:24
Practising may be over-rated, or maybe some of us need it more than others..... This is from an interview with Willie Maiden re Maynard Ferguson:
"The more we worked, the better Maynard's chops were. He
never practiced. In fact, most of the time he didn't even know
where his horn was. He took his mouthpiece with him, but the band
boy packed up the horn. After a layoff, the first night back for
him was kind of rough; it still sounded good, but he had to work
harder to get it. But as the week went on, it got better and
better."
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Author: BG ★2017
Date: 2008-02-22 17:33
Doc Severinsen has been quoted as saying "When I take a day off from playing, I can tell it. When I take two days off, the audience can tell it!"
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Author: GBK
Date: 2008-02-22 17:42
BG wrote:
> Doc Severinsen has been quoted as saying "When I take a day off
> from playing, I can tell it. When I take two days off, the
> audience can tell it!"
The actual quote, attributed to Jascha Heifetz:
"If I don't practice one day, I know it; two days, the critics know it; three days, the public knows it."
...GBK
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Author: Mike Johnson
Date: 2008-02-22 18:32
I've done that a few times...each time I do, I approach the clarinet again from different angles that I wouldn't have had I continuously played. I've been impacted even more when I've taken up other instruments on the side...sax, banjo, percussion. Each 'affair' with other instruments had profound effects on my 'clarinetting'. Can you smuggle a harmonica in to your uniform?
Mike Johnson
Napa, California
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Author: tetiana
Date: 2008-02-22 20:14
Forget bringing a mouthpiece and reed. My teacher taught me an exercice absolutely guaranteed to keep your embouchure in tip-top shape.
Form your lips and mouth into a (perfect) embouchure position. Place your index finger with a small amount of pressure against your lower lip (you can also do the exercise without holding a finger against your lip). Hold. Hold some more. Hold for as long as you can (you will be surprised at how tiring this can be after a minute of so). Relax. Repeat. Repeat 6-10x a day (or more). I have done this when I have gone away for 10 days- 2 weeks. It really works. When I have gone back to playing I have had not more than a day or two of adjustment (and that probably more due to jet lag or procrastination than being out of shape).
tetiana
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Author: Hank Lehrer
Date: 2008-02-22 22:57
I have a better idea. Employ the Think Method pioneered by Professor Harold Hill during those two weeks.
Actually psycho cybernetics might be a possibility as well. You could imagine playing through the whole Rose and no one would be the wiser.
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Author: skygardener
Date: 2008-02-23 06:03
You can still work on singing the music and such, but I think you will forget which one was 'the good reed'.
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Author: sfalexi
Date: 2008-02-23 14:05
Quote:
ou will probably forget all those bad habits!
...Jim lol. NEVER!!!!
US Army Japan Band
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Author: DavidBlumberg
Date: 2008-02-23 15:24
I've had to rehab before while taking a long time off of playing. It didn't make much of a difference at all.
Came back extrememly quickly to a high performance level and the long rest was good. The tongue probably took the longest to come back to full speed for me at least. Tone and finger control were immediate.
http://www.SkypeClarinetLessons.com
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Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2008-02-23 22:15
Take along a junk mouthpiece and a junk barrel. Take a dead reed, clip a good 3/4" off the tip and put it on with a junk ligature. Then, at all possible times, form an embouchure and hold the combination in it. Dry your lips thoroughly.
I did this when I drove an hour to work and back. At first I could hold it for only a few seconds, but I got it up to a minute. I also did it with the reed on top to strengthen my upper lip. It made a big difference.
I got some odd looks from a few people, but most people seemed to think it was a cigar.
Also, get a couple of plastic coffee stirrers (they look like tiny drinking straws), cut them to 2" lengths and blow through them to practice long tones and support.
I've seen the quote attributed most often to Arthur Rubinstein.
Ken Shaw
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Author: Brenda Siewert
Date: 2008-02-25 13:02
You'll be fine. You can do excercises in your head and take the mouthpiece if you want to use it. Your lip will feel like rubber when you get back and your wind will need a little building, but you'll be your usual self in no time.
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